Aging with different kinds of wood and suggest amounts per style of beer

[redbone]

I'm curious if anyone can help me determine what kinds of wood are acceptable to age different styles of beer with, the amounts, and styles of beer they are typically associated with that are found locally here in the US. In particularly TN or the South East.

I've got a fairly fresh barleywine (2 months old) that I'm thinking about imparting some kind of wood to. I really don't know where to start or heck if I even really want to do this. My Dad has a sawmill and I access to plenty of Hickory, Red Oak, White Oak, Cherry, and a bunch of ther hardwoods native to the area. I guess if I used any of these, I'd need to basically cook or kiln dry them in the oven. Other than that... I don't know where to start. So, can someone tell me how much someone would tipically use of these per 5 gallons or is it based off of abv of the beer or what? For my barleywine, I was thinking about using cherry because I know its a much lighter wood (at least when cooking) than Oak is. Also, would there be any benefit of charing it a bit with a blow torch before adding it to the brew.

Thanks ... any insight how to use wood in brewing would be nice.

 

[Bensiff]

Yeah, you would want to char it. Ideally you want to leave the wood out to age for a season as that is what barrel makers do...changes the wood characteristic...there is a really good Sunday Session using wine yeast for beer that covers a lot on barrels, but I can't remember the details or what episode it is...maybe someone who isn't at work right now can find it for you.

 

[hopsalot]

pick up some toasted oak chips at your LHBS, use an ounce or two

 

[redbone]

pick up some toasted oak chips at your LHBS, use an ounce or two

In long term ageing, I've read that chips aren't necessarily a good idea because the tannins will be exposed much quicker than they would in cubes, beads, stalves, or spirals. Besides this, I'm looking for a bit more detailed information than this and/or ways to estimate how much to use depending on the wood and type of beer. All I ever hear about is oak chips... does anyone actually use other woods like cherry, hickory, or ash?

 

[hopsalot]

good point, about the chips and long term ageing, every time I have used them it had been for less than a month.

just go for it, add one stave of that cherry for long term aging, I hear cherry is a very hard wood, it would probably do good long term. Dry it our in you oven, sanitizing in the process, then stick it in your fermentor. Be prepared for brettanomyces though, the wood may contain some, also brett loves wood sugars.

 

[944play]

there is a really good Sunday Session using wine yeast for beer that covers a lot on barrels, but I can't remember the details or what episode it is...maybe someone who isn't at work right now can find it for you.

You must be referring to the Shea Comfort episode. Definitely worth a listen.

 

[redbone]

good point, about the chips and long term ageing, every time I have used them it had been for less than a month.

just go for it, add one stave of that cherry for long term aging, I hear cherry is a very hard wood, it would probably do good long term. Dry it our in you oven, sanitizing in the process, then stick it in your fermentor. Be prepared for brettanomyces though, the wood may contain some, also brett loves wood sugars.

I guess this is one of those things that I just need to taste from time to time to figure out if its had enough or not? I've read something about pressure cooking it to get it sterilized. That sounds like the ticket.

 

[emjay]

White oak is by far the most commonly used, but red oak should really be avoided.

 

[Bensiff]

You must be referring to the Shea Comfort episode. Definitely worth a listen.

Yes, that was the guy...probably one of the single best episodes I have listened to for the subject.